Event Planning Guide Child Injuries Are Preventable Protect the Ones You Love doc

Event
Planning
Guide
Child Injuries Are PreventableProtect the Ones You Love
Protect the Ones You Love
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National Center for Injury Prevention and Control,
Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention,
requests courtesy notice of items that reference
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the National Center for Injury Prevention and
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No changes, including additions or deletions, may
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Health and Human Services.
A primer on community
events to raise awareness
about preventing child
injury by protecting the
ones you love
CS122260
Table of Contents
Introduction 2
Planning an Event 3
Setting up a planning team or committee 3
Developing an Event Timeline 4
Selecting Partners for the Event 5
How do you engage partners? 5
Considering potential partners 5
Developing a partnership plan 6

Promoting the Event 7
Event Day 8
Evaluating the Event 9
Event Planning Tools 11
Event Planning Timeline and Checklist 11
Partnership Planning Guide 15
Activity and Event Ideas 16
General Supporting Activities and Events 20
Among the leading causes of child
injury in the United States, and in
the world, are burns, drowning, falls,
poisoning, and road trac injuries.
1
Protect the Ones You Love
1
Introduction
2
Child Injuries Are Preventable
P
rotect the Ones You Love: Child
Injuries Are Preventable is a
CDC initiative to raise parents’
awareness about the leading causes of
child injury in the United States and
how they can be prevented. Working
together, we can keep our children safe
and help them live to their full potential.
Properly planned and implemented
community events can be highly effective
for spreading messages about the

importance of preventing child injury. If
they’re designed to be entertaining and/
or educational, well-planned events can
draw a great deal of attention to you use
and your messages.
What is the best time to raise awareness
about child injury prevention in your
community in support of the Protect
the Ones You Love initiative? You may
consider holding an event during one of
the following health observances to help
add momentum to your effort:
National Poison Prevention Month 
(February)
Home Safety Month (June) 
National Safety Month (June) 
Child Passenger Safety Month 
(September)
Children’s Health Month (October) 
Fire Prevention Week (October) 

Holding events throughout the year can
help ensure that protecting children from
injury is a topic that stays on audiences’
minds year-round.
This event planning booklet was
developed to assist you with planning
and holding successful community events
that can spread the word about the
importance of preventing child injury.

Introduction
Introduction
3
Protect the Ones You Love
Planning an Event
T
o decide what kind of event you
might hold, think about parents,
teachers, and caregivers, for
example, in your area: what kind of
events might interest them? Suggested
activities are available in Section VII,
Event Planning Tools. This section lists a
variety of activities and events you might
want to undertake.
Have these basics in mind before you
begin planning the event.
What resources does your own
•
organization have manpower,
budget, etc.?
Are there other individuals and
•
organizations in your community
that can collaborate with you? These
organizations may be commercial,
nonprofit, faith-based, and/or
governmental.
Setting up a planning team or committee
Once you decide to hold an event, gather

a planning team or committee of people
within your own organization as well as
within other community organizations
that might have an interest in this topic.
Consider including people who care for
young children, as well as those who
work as child advocates and members
of other groups, on the planning team
or committee. Their perspectives and
contacts with other members of the
audience will be a valuable asset to your
planning.
People with the following skills and
experience should also be recruited for
the committee:
Strong leadership skills (committee
•
chair)
An eye for detail (logistics)
•
The ability to raise money, if
•
funds aren’t available for the event
(development)
Media relations experience
•
Event program planning experience
•
Once your team/committee is
assembled, you should hold a consensus-

building session to answer specific
questions:
What are the goals/objectives of
the event?
What do you want members of your
•
community to get out of participating
in the event?
Who is the target audience?
Are you targeting parents and
•
caregivers of young children as your
primary audience?
What resources are available?
Do you have a budget or do you need
•
to raise funds to hold the event?
Are staff members or volunteers
•
available to plan and work the event?
Can you access in-kind services, such
•
as pro bono public relations services?
Do you have a resource for acquiring
•
free giveaways?
Palnning an Event
4
Child Injuries Are Preventable
Should you partner with other

•
organizations to leverage existing
resources?
What type of event do you want
to hold?
Seminar, health fair, luncheon,
•
walk/run, performance? (See Event
Planning Tools, Section VII, for a list
of event ideas, along with suggested
materials and products)
Where should the event be held and
when?
Will this event be held outside/inside?
•
Do you need to reserve space? If
so, what type of space? Are permits
required for this type of event? How
many people should it accommodate?
Developing an Event Timeline
To organize logistics for the event, you
will need to track who is responsible for
which tasks and when tasks need to be
completed. An event planning timeline is
a useful tool.
Developing a timeline, which includes
specific milestones and due dates,
should be one of the first tasks for
the event planning committee/team.
Using a timeline will help you to

monitor progress toward the event. The
timeline should identify the person or
organization responsible for each task.
The planning committee chairperson
should circulate the timeline to all
committee members and update it on
a regular basis. Hold regular planning
meetings with the committee, and
track progress toward milestones at
each planning meeting. If your group
is large enough, you may want to set
up subcommittees to handle separate
components of the event—for example,
logistics, partnership development,
publicity, and program/agenda.
The amount of planning time will vary,
depending on the type of event(s) you
are planning. For example, it may take
several months to plan a health fair,
but only a few weeks to plan a press
conference.
A sample event planning timeline and checklist for your use is
included in the Event Planning Tools section on page 11.
Palnning an Event
5
Protect the Ones You Love
Selecting Partners
for the Event
P
artnering with other agencies and

organizations can increase the
profile of your event. Finding the
right partners and identifying the best
role for them may take some time, but
it is well worth the effort. Following are
some recommendations for considering
potential partners, deciding criteria for
partnering, identifying suitable partners,
and developing a partnership plan to
outline their roles and responsibilities.
How do you
engage partners?
By convincing them that their
participation will produce a real
return on investment in terms of:
Increased community and media
•
exposure
Increased networking
•
opportunities
Considering potential partners
The best partners are individuals and
groups that share a common interest
in your organization’s mission, vision,
and values. Think about whether groups
you’ve worked with in the past may be
interested in being involved in planning
your event. Also consider partnering
with the health department, community

centers, local businesses, the local
agency on child services, or faith-based
organizations.
When thinking about partnering with
an organization to host an event, take a
moment to determine a clear purpose for
the collaboration.
For example, can the organization:
Reach a particular group or audience?
•
Disseminate materials and messages?
•
Enhance the credibility of your
•
program?
Provide technical expertise to enhance
•
your event?
Assist with funding or provide in-kind
•
services, such as printing, graphic
design, or catering?
Selecting Partners for the Event
6
Developing a partnership plan
Once you determine how you want to
collaborate with a partner, an effective
way to keep track of your activities is to
develop a partnership plan. This plan
documents all event details and roles and

responsibilities for everyone involved in
planning and holding the event. The size
of your planning effort will determine
how formal your plan needs to be.
Tips for establishing and maintaining partnerships
Once you have your partnership plan in place, there are several things you can do to
facilitate a smooth collaboration:
Choose organizations with the
•
resources, expertise, and credibility
your organization needs
Consider what roles those partners
•
might play
Involve representatives from the
•
partnering organizations as early as
possible in the planning
Provide partners with the rationale,
•
strategies, messages, and materials
Give partners advance notice of
•
upcoming meetings and related
activities
Create a way to gently remind people
•
of their responsibilities
Develop a feedback mechanism so
•

that activities can stay on track and
adjustments can be made quickly
Remember to thank all partners for a
•
job well done.
The partnership planning template on page 15 may be a useful
guide as you develop your own partnership plan.
Child Injuries Are Preventable
Selecting Partners for the Event
7
Protect the Ones You Love
Promoting the Event
T
o be successful, you need strong
attendance for your event, and
this is directly tied to how well
you promote the event to your target
audience. You will want to use every
means you have to get the word out
through both the media and community
channels. Partners and other community
organizations can be effective in using
their own networks to help you with
promotion.
Media channels such as radio, television,
cable television, and newspapers offer
many opportunities for promoting your
event. See the Protect the Ones You
Love Media Outreach Guide for details
about promoting your event through paid

and unpaid print and electronic media.
Promoting the Event
Community and organizational channels offer a number of ways to promote
your event. Ask every partner and interested organization to help you by:
Displaying announcements of the
•
event
Including notices about the event in
•
their newsletters and on websites
Handing out/displaying promotional
•
brochures at their workplaces and
businesses
Helping you pay for commercial
•
advertising, if necessary
Making announcements/handing out
•
promotional notices at community
and faith-based meetings and other
gatherings
Encouraging participation at the event
•
by employees/clients/customers
Child Injuries Are PreventableChild Injuries Are Preventable
8
Event Day
Event Day
When your planning is complete and the event day has arrived, you should:

Arrive at the venue several hours
•
before the event starts so that you
can ensure that the venue is set
up properly and that audiovisual
equipment is operating.
Use a checklist to ensure that all tasks
•
are completed.
Ensure that everyone working the
•
event has an agenda and knows where
they need to be and what is going on
at all times.
Use a designated person to handle all
•
questions from media, participants,
and volunteers. For large events, you
may consider using an information
booth.
9
Protect the Ones You Love
Evaluating the Event
K
nowing if you achieved the
goals and objectives that were
established for your event is
important, especially if you plan to hold
the same type of event in the future.
There are many ways to evaluate your

event efficiently and cost-effectively.
Depending on how your planning
committee is organized, you may wish
to designate one person to coordinate
the overall evaluation, with different
subcommittees in charge of the actual
evaluation tasks. For example, someone
from the publicity subcommittee could
monitor media coverage, someone from
the logistics subcommittee could track
who comes to the event, and someone
from the program/agenda subcommittee
could distribute evaluation forms to
participants and analyze the results.
Evaluating the Event
By asking some simple questions, you can get a good idea of your event’s
reach and impact. Here are some ideas for evaluating your event:
Ask attendees to complete a brief
•
evaluation form at the conclusion
of the event. Ask which sessions/
activities they found most useful, what
they thought of the speaker(s), how
they would rate the logistical aspects
of the event (e.g., venue, food) and
what they would recommend for future
events.
Tally the financial and in-kind
•
contributions to the event that were

made by partners, local businesses,
etc. This information can be helpful
for securing donor funding in the
future.
Track who showed up at your event.
•
In addition to obtaining the number
of attendees for the event, also look
at who showed up, so that you can
see whether you reached your target
audience.
Track how many materials were
•
distributed at the event—both to
participants and the media.
Track media coverage of your event.
•
Scan local newspapers and news
websites before and after the event
and clip articles about the event. If
television or radio reporters cover the
event, ask them when they believe that
their stories will air. If possible, assign
committee members to watch/listen
to the coverage and record it. If you
anticipate a lot of media coverage and
have sufficient funds, you can hire a
media clipping service to monitor all
of the media coverage. Some popular
clipping services are Burelles Luce

(www.burrellesluce.com) and Bacon’s
(www.bacons.com).
Child Injuries Are Preventable
Evaluating the Event
10
11
Protect the Ones You Love
Event Planning Tools
T
he event planning timeline and checklist and partnership planning guide
are tools designed to help you stay organized as you plan an exciting and
successful event that will raise awareness of the importance of child injury
prevention. The activity and event ideas can be used as presented, modified to
meet your community’s needs, or used to spur the development of new
events and activities.
Event Planning Timeline and Checklist
For tasks related to media, please refer to the
Media Outreach Guide.
As soon as possible after the rst event planning meeting
Reserve your venue. If your event is likely to draw media attention, be sure to 
select a venue that includes a quiet place where members of the media can
conduct individual interviews with event spokespersons.
Recruit partners for the event. (See  Potential Organizations to Involve in
Section VII, Event Planning Tools, for a list of organizations that might be
approached for partnership and/or promotional support.)
6 to 8 weeks before the event
Invite speakers—consider local dignitaries, such as the mayor or an alderman, a 
spokesperson who is well versed and knowledgeable about child injury prevention,
and perhaps those representing some of the local organizations serving children
and those who care for children.

Request a proclamation from local government officials. 
Order materials, signs, banners, awards, and T-shirts and other giveaway items. 
(This is one area in which community partners can be handy for providing needed
financial support, in-kind services, or giveaways.) Free materials, such as fact
sheets and posters, are available at www.cdc.gov/safechild.
Event Planning Tools
12
Child Injuries Are Preventable
4 to 6 weeks before the event
Schedule training and preparation for all spokespersons. 
Have on hand adequate promotional materials. 
Have on hand an adequate supply of informational materials and brochures, as 
well as other program materials and giveaways.
Establish a mechanism for reordering materials if more are needed 
for future events.
Establish a mechanism to identify potential problems and track the success of the 
event.
Update or develop your media list to make sure that you have the correct phone 
numbers and email addresses for reporters who would be likely to cover your
event.
Identify community calendar contacts for all local media and their deadlines, and 
distribute your media advisory or calendar announcement.
Recruit event volunteers, staff, and vendors (such as audiovisual techs, if needed, 
a photographer, a caterer, etc.).
Arrange for equipment if it will not be provided by the site. Equipment might 
include tables, easels for signs, a podium, a stage or riser, microphone(s), and a
sound system. For a news conference or an event with a celebrity, you might also
need a “mult box,” a device that allows broadcast media to record directly from
the sound system.
Create a guest list and invite guests. Assure that invitations have been issued to all 

involved in putting together the event.
Begin an initial promotion alerting the community to the upcoming event; for 
example, hang posters in various common areas of the community or in places
of businesses frequented by parents of young children, such as grocery stores,
pharmacies, pediatrician’s offices, etc.
2 to 4 weeks before the event
Assure that partners are prepared to do their roles. 
Prepare your news release, a backgrounder, a fact sheet, an agenda, etc. (See the 
Media Outreach Guide for samples that you can use.)
Conduct more intensive promotion efforts to ensure a good attendance. 
Event Planning Tools
13
Protect the Ones You Love
1 to 2 weeks before the event
Send out your media advisory. 
Update your website. 
Send staff and volunteers the event schedule, a list of responsibilities, and 
directions to the site. Provide copies of materials to anyone who will be
responding to inquiries before, during or after the event.
Assist speakers with developing their remarks, if necessary. Gather brief 
biographies for the moderator to use to introduce speakers.
Check on the status of materials you ordered and make a checklist of supplies 
you’ll need on site, such as pens, sign-in sheets, business cards, and fact sheets.
Continue community promotion activities. 
1 week before the event
Confirm space, volunteers, and equipment. 
If you will be photographing, videotaping, or otherwise recording the event, 
distribute consent forms. (Note: consent forms are not required for news coverage
but may be needed for taking and using photographs or recordings of attendees.)
Follow up with key media to confirm their receipt of the advisory and to 

encourage them to attend the event.
Assemble press kits. (See the  Media Outreach Guide.)
1 to 2 days before the event
Resend the media advisory to your entire media list. 
Continue calling your media targets. 
Gather and pack supplies. 
Make arrangement for responding to calls while you and others are at the event. 
Brief the office staff, update your outgoing voice mail message, and distribute
your cell phone number and/or inform office staff as to whether you will check
voice mail during the event.
At the event
Greet media when they arrive and give them a press kit. Ask them to sign in so 
you can track attendance.
Greet any special invited guests (“VIPs”) and have someone responsible for 
showing them to their places.
Introduce media to your spokespersons for interviews and alert them to photo 
opportunities.
Event Planning Tools
After the event
Follow up on any special requests made during the event by the media, speakers, 
etc. For example, reporters might ask for a bio or “head shot” of a specific
speaker or they might ask for data or other information that was not readily
accessible.
Send press kits to journalists who expressed interest but did not attend the event. 
Monitor newspapers, radio, television, and the internet for coverage. 
Obtain contact sheets or prints from photographers and order photos for 
your internal publications and for your partners or sponsors, speakers,
special guests, etc.
Write an article about the event for your organization and encourage partners and 
sponsors to do the same.

Send a letter to the editor of your daily newspaper to thank volunteers publicly for 
making the event a success and ask the editor to consider it for publication.
Thank sponsors, partners, and volunteers directly, in-person or preferably with a 
letter of appreciation.
Hold a debriefing with all involved to discuss what worked and what didn’t work 
during event planning, and during the event, and why. Those experiences can be
used to plan future events.
Child Injuries Are Preventable
Event Planning Tools
14
15
Protect the Ones You Love
Partnership Planning Guide
Overall Purpose of the Partnership: To leverage existing community resources
and assets in support of a community event designed to raise awareness among
parents about the leading causes of injury among children in the United States and
how they can protect the ones they love.
Brief Description of the Event
Participating Partners (list the names of all individuals and organizations)
Desired Outcomes of the Event
Major Activities for the Event
Needed Resources
Resource Who Provides Details Timing
Access to people
Communication
Expertise
Facility/Venue
Funding
Sta
Giveaways

Action Steps
Step Who’s Responsible Due Date How Tracked
Event Planning Tools
16
Child Injuries Are Preventable
Activity and Event Ideas
The suggestions below represent a range of events and activities that you can
schedule throughout the year (and, to help build momentum, during one or more of
the health observances that relate to child injury awareness and prevention). These
activities are targeted to parents and caregivers of children.
You may want to consider holding one or several events in a series. For example,
consider grouping a series of events during National Poison Prevention Month
(February) to increase the reach of your effort. Continue those activities during
National Safety Month (June), Home Safety Month (June), Child Passenger Safety
Month (September), Children’s Health Month (October), and Fire Prevention Week
(October) to extend the life of your efforts.
Potential Organizations to Involve. Individual organizations may find it possible to
do some of these events on their own. Other events will require cooperation and
partnerships with local nonprofit, business, and/or governmental organizations.
Examples of potential partners among local organizations include:
Local government and nonprofits such as:
•
State/local health departments or offices on child welfare and safety
9
Agencies of Child and Family Services
9
State/local chapters of professional medical and nursing organizations
9
(e.g., American Academy of Pediatrics)
Emergency Medical Services

9
Community/recreation centers
9
Child care centers
9
Hospitals/clinics
9
Local libraries
9
Community service organizations (Boys and Girls Clubs, etc.)
9
Youth-serving organizations (YMCA, etc.)
9
Injury prevention coalitions
9
Faith-based organizations
•
Area merchants
•
Gyms and community centers
9
Restaurants
9
Department stores
9
Home improvement stores
9
Retailers that sell children’s products
9
Insurance companies

9
Coffee shops
9
Event Planning Tools
17
Protect the Ones You Love
Bookstores
9
Grocery stores
9
Pharmacies
9
Local businesses with large numbers of employees
•
Local media outlets (see the
•
Media Outreach Guide)
Activity Ideas. Activities that all participating organizations may want to consider for
promoting and disseminating messages and materials may include:
Disseminating messages through a newsletter, a website or at organizational
•
meetings.
Providing fact sheets, displaying posters, and giving out information containing
•
the website, www.cdc.gov/safechild, at every appropriate venue (see detailed
suggestions in following charts).
Setting up a speakers’ bureau with trained speakers who can be featured at
•
organizational and community events.
Arranging for a speaker to represent the issue with media: television, radio, print

•
press; (see the Media Outreach Guide for more details); involving political leaders,
such as the mayor, city councilmen/alderman; and involving a local radio or
television personality.
Following are examples of various activities that organizations and their partners
may wish to undertake during one or more of the monthly observances mentioned
in this guide, such as National Poison Prevention Month (February), Home Safety
Month (June), National Safety Month (June), Child Passenger Safety Month
(September), Children’s Health Month (October), and Fire Prevention
Week (October).
Event Planning Tools
18
Child Injuries Are Preventable
Activities tied to child injury
prevention messages
Event Materials Needed
Prevention Tip: Protect Children from Five Leading
Causes of Child Injury. Team up with major employers,
as well as small businesses, in the area to sponsor a
walk/run event promoting awareness about preventing
child injury—place different stations along the way
offering more information on leading causes of injury
among kids (burns, drowning, falls, poisoning, and
road traffic-related injuries). A wide range of audiences,
including parents, grandparents, teachers, care
providers, medical professionals, and local government
representatives may be interested in participating. Urge
sponsorship by employers, including retailers that sell
equipment such as child safety seats and smoke alarms,
pediatricians’ offices, fire and police departments,

pharmacies, and community organizations that work
directly with children and offer kids’ activities. Don’t
hesitate to invite other large businesses—for example,
IT companies, insurance companies, and Fortune
1000 companies that may be in your area—to become
involved by encouraging their employees to take part
and by underwriting the cost of event-related giveaways
and other event expenses. Also include small businesses
around town that parents and children’s caregivers
support, such as local coffee shops, bakeries, etc.
Informational
•
materials
Giveaways provided
•
by local merchants–
—e.g., T-shirts, tote
bags
Prevention Tip: Make A Child’s Surroundings Safer.
Partner with a retailer, such as Target, Babies R Us, or
other local chain to sponsor and promote a weekend
event during an observance like National Safety Month.
This event could feature demonstrations, such as on
how to develop a home fire escape plan, properly
install child safety seats in vehicles and safety gates in
stairwells, and poison-proof your home with cabinet
locks. Speakers could offer suggestions on safety
improvements for the home and hand out Safe Child
materials, store coupons and other giveaway items.
Don’t forget to alert the local media about an event like

this, which may offer good photo opportunities.
Informational
•
materials
Posters for in-store
•
promotion
Any giveaway items
•
Event Planning Tools
Activities tied to child injury
prevention messages
Event Materials Needed
Prevention Tip: Ensure that Children Travel Safely in
Car and Booster Seats. Team up with your local fire
department and/or other organizations devoted to
protecting citizens’ safety. Have them offer “car seat
check” days when parents and children’s caregivers can
come to have their car seat checked for proper use.
Offer light refreshments and giveaways, if available, and
make sure attendees are given information about all
leading causes of child injury and how to prevent them,
as well as information on online resources (www.cdc.
gov/safechild.org). A good time to hold this event may
be during Child Passenger Safety Month in September.
Informational
•
materials
Posters for display
•

Postcards with
•
campaign URL
Protect the Ones You Love
Event Planning Tools
19
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Child Injuries Are Preventable
General Supporting Activities and Events
The following is a sampling of promotional activities that involve community
partners in disseminating program messages and materials.
Work with Local Nonprots and Faith-Based and
Governmental Organizations
Event Materials Needed
During a month focused on safety awareness and
injury prevention — such as one referenced in the
Introduction of this guide). Enlist local providers of
services for children, such as day care centers and local
governmental offices or departments on child services.
Informational
•
materials
Hold a child safety/injury prevention event within
your organization or jointly with similar organizations,
including businesses, local community and senior
centers or faith-based organizations. During the event,
share information on the leading causes of child injury
and how they can be prevented. Promote and hold
special parents and caregiver sessions at times that
this audience might best be able to attend (after work,

evenings, weekends) and invite a speaker to talk about
methods to protect children from injury. Invite local
merchants with interest in this topic to participate by
disseminating informational materials and giveaway
items related to their mission (for example, lithium
batteries for smoke alarms, coupons for retailers that
provide items such as pool-fencing materials or child
safety seats). Enlist support of local media in publicizing
your event.
Posters
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Informational
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materials
Giveaways provided
•
by local merchants
Talking points
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Work with local merchants, such as recreation
centers, home improvement stores, retailers that
sell safety items for children, and local re/rescue
departments, to arrange for a community-wide health
and wellness event. This may involve reaching out to
these organizations’ public and community relations
departments. Set up information booths on a variety
of child injury prevention topics. Consider some of the
following: holding a free community CPR training
(could be sponsored and led by the fire department),
offering car seat safety checks and installation

demonstrations, etc.
Informational
•
materials
Posters
•
Talking points
•
Event Planning Tools